I haven't read the first two books, because I've been buying the Battlefields series haphazardly at Half Price Books.

Anna's Fall and Rise covers a twenty year time span where she experiences a double-whammy of cruelty. First from her German captors in the final days of World War II, followed by her own country's cruelty to it's own citizens.

This story is an extended letter by Nurse Carrie Sutton to her pilot boyfriend Billy Wedgewood. In her letter, she confesses to Billy how she was captured, raped, shot and left for dead by the Japanese during the invasion of Singapore. She then goes on to explain how she exacted personal revenge--and her inability to cope with the impending peace.

I've always enjoyed war stories more than any of the other genres of comics, but I only vaguely recall any of the Sgt. Rock, or Sgt. Fury stories.

Garth Ennis knows how to tell a poignant 5-star war story you never forget.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Here is another webcomic I've written based on my experience at the Jet City Comic Show (JCCS).

Dealing with Deadpool was inspired by the photo shoot I did at the Comic Book Characters For Causes booth. The group's "volunt-heroes" help raise money for charitable causes in the Seattle area. According to their 19 November Facebook post, they've changed their name to Costumed Characters for Causes (CC4C), and more importantly, they've been invited to next year's Emerald City Comicon.

I have to admit that even though I dressed like the Punisher, I'm certainly not an expert on him. Not only that, but I know next to nothing about Deadpool. I haven't even seen the Deadpool movie yet.

What I do know, is that Frank Castle is a dour vigilante with a tragic backstory, and Wade Wilson is a smart aleck mercenary. While there's no official pairing by Marvel of these two diametrically opposed characters; artists, like Oliver Kidsley, think they'd make quite a team--if they don't kill each other first.

With similar thoughts in mind, I decided to have a photo shoot with CC4C's Deadpool cosplayer, which I learned later was Eugene Capon.

The plot I concocted was based on our poses in relation to each other. Since these photos weren't enough to provide an introduction and ending, I wanted to include an image of the Seattle skyline to fill in these gaps.

This year, artist Travis Bundy's inspiration for the JCCS Program Guide cover was Tina Rivets. Both Travis and Tina signed the full-sized print I purchased, and Tina was happy to do a mini photo shoot for me.

I snapped two sets of pictures: One with the orange barrel cap on her Mauser C96 replica, and another set with the cap off.

She was also nice enough to do a "Dynamic Duet" shot with me taken by Travis:

(Me with my best "You Kids Get Off My Lawn" scowl posing with Tina)

Cosplay Organizations

There were a few cosplay groups present at this year's JCCS.

The fist one was Comic Book Characters for Causes (CBC4C), which attends various events and raises money for charitable organizations. One can get a photo taken with one, or more of the CBC4C cosplayers, and have the option of making a charitable donation.

She was actually nervous about standing on his shield, but Buck insisted. Another cosplayer helped steady Tigra, and arranged her long, read hair out of her face, so the photographers to capture her snarl.

Despite her scantily-clad appearance, the Tigra cosplayer was actually wearing a body suit, with body paint applied to her face, neck and hands.

This trio of cosplayers consists of a fetching, fedora-wearing Captain America from the CBC4C, a bellowing Black Canary and another character I can't identify.

Pre-ball gown Belle seemed surprised I wanted to take her picture. I liked the simplicity of her outfit.

Anime Cosplay

Disney didn't have a monopoly on cartoon characters. Sailor Moon and her pal Sailor Jupiter sailed-in for the show. While I recognized Sailor Moon, I had to ask the Sailor Jupiter cosplayer who she was.

The showroom floor closed at 5 PM, and the Costume Contest started shortly thereafterwards.

Since I didn't want to "break character" of my Punisher persona, I brought along my Panasonic DMC-FX01 camera. This was fine for snapping pictures of cosplayers willing to stand still for several moments while I fumbled with the controls.

However, when it came time to take shots of the Costume Contest, nearly all the pictures came out blurry, because the contestants were constantly moving. I've never had luck taking action photos with the Luminix. Next time I'll be sure to bring my Nikon Coolpix P530.

I felt this photo of Kitty Pryde and Star-Lord was too cute to toss out, despite how blurry the image is:

I thought this was a character of the cosplayer's own imagination, until a coworker told me later that there actually is a Quailman. Anyway, Quailman remained motionless long enough for me to take the best photo of the contestants.

Bomber Girl model, Tina Rivets, did a short photo-shoot while the judges deliberated.

Studio Spin-Offs

About the Director

I'm a retired USAF TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) member, now working for Washington State Emergency Management. In addition to being an Emergency Operations Specialist at my day/night/weekend job, I'm a Foreign Affairs Specialist, gamer and writer.
I maintain three blogs as an on-line platform. "Stern Rake Studio," my central site, explores a variety of topics on gaming, pop-culture and writing. "Station WTFO" is where I post comments and discussions on the national and international issues that concern us. Finally, "The Redshift Chronicles," is a spin-off of "Stern Rake Studio." This site focuses on sci-fi gaming and is home to my long-form webcomic "Breakout from Bongolaan."